Background: The intersection in Temple Hills, Maryland, where the shooting reportedly took place (WRC/YouTube). Inset left: Darian Ragland (Family/WRC). Inset right: Polo Shaw (Prince George”s County Police Department).
A father in Maryland was driving to pick up his 7-year-old daughter from after-school care when a man shot and killed him for apparently not allowing him to merge, authorities say.
Polo Shaw, 33, faces charges including first- and second-degree murder in the death of 39-year-old Darian Ragland, the Prince George’s County Police Department announced. He is jailed under no bond.
On April 10, at about 4:30 p.m., Ragland was driving in Temple Hills, Maryland, an unincorporated area some 15 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. Also on the road at the same time was Shaw, police said.
At some point, Shaw wanted to merge in front of Ragland’s car, but Ragland wouldn’t allow him to do so, area NBC affiliate WRC reported, citing charging documents. According to authorities, as the two men continued onto Branch Avenue, they seemed to be “pacing” each other’s speeds.
When they reached the 4700 block of Branch Avenue, Shaw allegedly shot Ragland through the victim’s passenger-side window, causing him to veer left, cross the road’s median and strike a barrier wall. Officers arrived at the scene and found him wounded, and he was later pronounced dead.
Authorities suggested that Ragland had no clue any violence was coming.
“It’s especially troubling when it appears that the victim had no idea, was not involved in any sort of confrontation and just was attacked out of nowhere,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson said, per the local outlet.
The police department announced on April 13 a reward of up to $25,000 “for information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case.” Shaw was arrested and charged days later.
Police also said that the “preliminary investigation revealed Shaw shot Ragland during a road rage incident. The suspect and victim were not known to each other.”
Investigators reportedly determined that Shaw’s cellphone was in the area of the shooting around that time, and a license plate reader found his vehicle about 5 miles away 17 minutes afterward.
Shaw is expected back in court on May 18.
Ragland’s mother expressed the toll that the incident has taken on her.
“I can’t make sense of it. And that’s my last child. I have three sons,” she told WRC amid tears, adding that she has “no more children now.”
